misuse
Americannoun
-
misuses
plural
-
wrong or improper use; misapplication.
- Synonyms:
- misappropriation, misemployment
-
Obsolete. bad or abusive treatment.
verb (used with object)
-
misuses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
misused,
past participle, past
-
misusing
present participle
-
to use wrongly or improperly; misapply.
-
to treat badly or abusively; maltreat.
noun
-
erroneous, improper, or unorthodox use
misuse of words
-
cruel or inhumane treatment
verb
-
to use wrongly
-
to treat badly or harshly
-
to use (something, esp alcohol, drugs, etc) improperly
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
misusesimple
-
misusessimple
-
have misusedperfect
-
has misusedperfect
-
am misusingprogressive
-
are misusingprogressive
-
is misusingprogressive
-
have been misusingperfect progressive
-
has been misusingperfect progressive
Past
-
misusedsimple
-
had misusedperfect
-
was misusingprogressive
-
were misusingprogressive
-
had been misusingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of misuse
Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at mis- 1, use
Explanation
Misuse is using something incorrectly or in a harmful way. I warned you that repeated misuse of your cellphone would break it — I can't believe you were texting in the shower! You can use this word as a noun or a verb, with just a slight change in pronunciation. As a noun, misuse rhymes moose. But when you misuse the money your parents gave you for groceries, spending it all on candy and comic books, misuse rhymes with confuse. A less-common meaning of the verb is "treat someone badly."
Vocabulary lists containing misuse
mis-
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mis-
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Prefixes: mis-
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Without clinical supervision, many patients will misuse and then discontinue the bogus products and achieve no lasting benefit.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 17, 2026
On Thursday Anthropic released a 154-page report on the misuse of Claude, with an especially chilling chapter on possible biological-weapons research.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
Investigators say they started looking into the case in mid July, after receiving an anonymous tip alleging Phra Wachirayan of misconduct and misuse of temple funds.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
The incidents were found and disrupted between January and July, and they originated in China, Iran and west Africa, Anthropic said in a report about misuse of its models.
From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026
What the warders did not tell us was that Vorster resigned as a result of press revelations about the Department of Information’s misuse of government funds.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
Under current law, queries are reported annually to Congress so misuses of the program are identified.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 13, 2026
Yet one doesn’t need an AI bot to explain why Grammarly’s stunt has to rank among the sleaziest misuses of AI technology yet to appear.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 17, 2026
Safeguards will be in place to ensure victims of sexual crime are not identified and anyone who misuses the footage could face contempt of court proceedings.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2025
Recently, she’s chronicled on X the expulsion of New York Republican George Santos, who was booted from the House following a searing ethics report detailing misuses of campaign funds.
From Salon ● Jan. 18, 2024
Which she as often as not misuses and turns against herself.
From Madame Flirt A Romance of 'The Beggar's Opera' by Charles Edward Pearce
The world's largest LGBTQ+ dating app was sued in the High Court in 2024 over claims it misused people's personal information.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
If you were found to have acted recklessly with her money or investments, engaged in self-dealing, or otherwise misused estate or trust assets, you could face serious legal consequences.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026
"It's too easy for this to get misused against a population that doesn't pose a threat."
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
That would give the U.S. influence over the Saudi nuclear program and, Trump administration officials argue, a way to prevent it from being misused for military purposes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
Generally, this phrase of his was misused, even by those who were his supporters.
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
A Lufkin officer was indicted Aug. 24 on 100 counts of misusing official information, which Abbott cited as a concerning development during a Friday radio interview.
From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2026
And recent reporting by the Washington Post uncovered at least 50 instances nationwide in which law enforcement officials were accused of misusing their access to the cameras, largely to stalk former romantic partners or citizens.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
In this age of fairness and reason, it’s hard to imagine a government official misusing power to keep secrets, but I’m told it happens.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026
Davies agreed the onus should be on social media platforms to tighten up safety measures and added adults were also guilty of misusing social media.
From BBC ● May 25, 2026
My mother said we were misusing the word; you could not call a Kleenex kira-kira.
From "Kira-Kira" by Cynthia Kadohata
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
